Electronic displays are widely used in many types of devices. Uses may include, for example, laptop computers, cell phones, handheld digital devices, display panels, instrumentation, etc. They have many advantages, including light weight and, in current technology, relatively thin size. In addition, they enjoy a low power consumption. This is very advantageous for small, portable devices that run on battery power.
FIG. 1 shows several layers of a typical prior art flat panel display 100. The prior art display 100 includes a plurality of pixel elements 150 formed as part of a pixel layer. The plurality of pixel elements 150 may be formed on a glass substrate 101. The prior art display 100 further includes rows of traces 103, 104, etc., on a first side of the plurality of pixel elements 150 and columns of traces 115, 116, etc., on a second side. The traces are on opposite sides of the pixel elements 150. By strobing or polling particular rows and columns in combination, individual pixel elements of the display may be turned on and off. For example, in the figure shown, if row trace 103 is strobed at the same time column trace 116 is strobed, the shaded pixel element 150 will be turned on. This arrangement has been in use for quite some time and does an adequate job of controlling and addressing individual pixel elements of a display.
However, there are several disadvantages to the prior art. First, in order to control each individual pixel element, the row or column traces must be strobed sequentially. For example, row 103 may be strobed and individual columns 115, 116, etc., may be simultaneously strobed in order to turn on the pixel elements in row 103. Since the rows must be multiplexed and as displays get larger, the rows are turned on for a shorter time period. As a result, a display must drive the pixel elements harder during these reduced time periods in order to achieve a desired brightness. However, there is a practical upper limit to how hard a pixel element can be driven. The reliability of a display will be affected as the pixel elements are driven harder and display heating occurs.
FIG. 2 shows a front view of a prior art flat panel display showing how the traces emanate from the sides. This is another drawback of the prior art flat panel display. The display therefore must be larger than just the viewing area, and must include area for the individual traces to be accumulated and fed off of the sides of the display. Therefore, in an application like a laptop computer, more of a nonfunctional area around the edges is needed, which increases the size of the display.
What is needed, therefore, are improvements to flat panel displays.